First Great War.
The First Great War was a period of continuous international struggle lasting from 1914 '''until '''1945. In the Soviet Union, it is colloquially known as the People's Revolutionary War. The lasting effects of the First Great War are felt centuries later. Economically, the First Great War ravaged the monetary system and forced nearly every nation to reorganize under other currencies or redevelop their system of distribution. Because the War ended with a large, new, powerful bloc of socialist/communist nations, the world could no longer function under a primitive resource-based market economy. Timeline of War 1914 *June 28: Archduke Frans Ferdinand assassinated. Austria-Hungary accuses Serbian government officials of being involved, beginning a diplomatic scandal. The Imperial Russian government pledges support to Serbia. *July 5: Germany pledges support to Austria-Hungary. *July 28: Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia, beginning the first open hostilities. *August 1: Germany declares war on Russia. Italy declares neutrality. *August 2: Germany invades Luxembourg and sets up for siege of France. *August 3: Germany officially declares war on France and begins siege. *August 4: Germany invades neutral Belgium, outflanking French forces. Great Britain enters the conflict on the side of Belgium and France. The United States declares neutrality. *August 6: Austria-Hungary declares war on Russia. Serbia declares war on Germany. *August 7: British Expeditionary Forces arrive in France. The BEF, together with France's Fifth Army, begin the Battle of the Frontiers. *August 9: Montenegro declares war on Germany. *August 12: Austria invades Serbia *August 17: Russian forces enter East Prussia. German forces are soundly defeated in the Battles of Gumbinnen and Stalluponen. *August 20: Germany occupies Brussels. *August 23: Japan declares war on Germany. *August 24: Allied forces begin a retreat to the River Marne. *August 26: British and French forces capture German holdings in Africa. *August 27: British and French forces capture the German port of Tsingtao in China. *September 4: Great Battle of the Marne begins. *September 11: British forces in Australia capture German Guinea. *September 12: French forces halt the German invasion into Western Europe. *September 13: Allied troops in South Africa begin attacking German African colonies. The Battle of the Frontiers ends with a German victory. *November 1: Russia declares war on the Ottoman Empire. 1915 *The war cements into a stalemate, with Allied and Central powers continuing to throw massive amounts of manpower and ordnance at one another. Less than two feet of ground is gained by either side. 1916 *Continuing stalemate. 1917 *November: The Bolshevik Revolution takes place in Russia, with the communists siesing power and forming the first communist state. The Russian Civil War begins immediately following, with the Imperial powers generously donating supplies, artillery, cavalry, and infantry to form the White Army under the leadership of General Denkin. 1918 *February: Nestor Makhno and the Revolutionary Insurrectionary Army of Ukraine attempt the first anarchist experiment of the modern era, organising peasants and factory workers into independent communes. The experiment is destroyed by invading Imperials, a combined force of Germans and Austro-Hungarians *July: Kulaks in Russia discovered hoarding grain are executed, a practice that would continue ad infinatum. *November 1: The RIAU forms the Free Territory of Ukraine. Rift grows between the Ukranian anarchists and the Soviets. *November 7th: The Soviet Republic of Germany is declared, leaving German Imperial forces without steady supply lines. The German military is split in half; those sympathetic to communism leave the front lines and return home. *December 3: Communists take power in Austria-Hungary, leaving the Austro-Hungarian Imperial military without supplies. The Soviet Republic of Austria is formed. Hundreds of thousands of Austrian and Hungarian military forces leave the front lines, dissatisfied with the lack of food and pay, and join the communists back home. *December 12: Imperial powers increase the defensive war effort, impose severe rations, and scourge surrounding territory for resources. They redouble their efforts against Allied lines. *December 13: *December 29: Imperial forces leave current battle lines, ending the stalemate, and gather at Romania in an effort to lead the communists into an open fight. 1919 *January 1: General Denkin, leader of the anti-communist White Army in Russia, begins active persecution of Jews in Ukraine and Russia. *January 2: The Soviet Republic of Romania is formed in a bloody revolt of technicians and factory workers. Communists from Russia pour in to Romania and join the fight against the Imperials. *March: Approximately one third of the Imperial forces initially committed at the beginning of the war remain on the battlefield. Imperial casualties are enormous. *June 4: Leon Trotsky issues Order No. 1824, which forbids the free election of congresses in Soviet territory and discredits Makhno. *July 1919: The Treaty of Lourdes officially recogises the Soviet Republics of Germany, Austria, and Romania. The remaining forces of the former Imperial powers align themselves into the pan-national irredentist Blue Movement. 1920 *Italy, one of the last of the old-world authoritarian powers, becomes a haven for the Blue Movement. 1921 *The seven years of constant war in Europe, Africa, and Asia triggers a global financial meltdown. National currencies hyperinflate, causing governments to take drastic action. As a result, the global communist movement booms in popularity. 1922 *October 22: The March on Rome in Italy is led by Benito Mussolini, an ultra-conservative and head of the Fascist movement. 1923 *Beer Hall Revolution brings the NSDAP to power in Germany. Civil war ensues. The Soviet Republic of Germany is dissolved and the National German Worker's State is created. All communists who do not pledge allegiance to the new regime are killed. The NSDAP draws an alliance with the Italian fascists. *The Blue Movement collapses. Remnants of Imperial German forces join the NSDAP regime in the fight against the communists, 1924 * 1925 * 1926 *French Civil War begins. 1927 * 1928 * 1929 *Soviet Union formed. 1930 *Lenin's death. Trotsky assumes leadership of the Communist Party of Russia, the Communist International, and the USSR. 1931 *February: Britain and the USSR jointly declare war on NSDAP Germany. *March: Japanese forces land in Manchuria, China, and increase their occupation of mainland Asia. 1932 1933 *NSDAP sympathisers in the Soviet Republic of Austria incite a rebellion against Soviet rule. German soldiers quickly respond and take the communists by surprise. The NSDAP promises the Austrian people a quick end to conflict. With popular opinion in Austria turned against them, Austrian communists retreat to Russia. 1934 *Fascist Italian forces 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 Phases of the War: Phase Theory Contemporary nonsectarian scholars of the War often make several primary divisions of the campaign to demonstrate the radically changing political, social, and military landscape over the course of the several decades. In the first stage, the forces of the Allied Entente (France, Britain, the United States, the Russian Empire, et al...) went to war with the forces of the Central Powers (Germany, Austria-Hungary, Ottoman Empire, et. al...). The struggle began with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand and officially ended with the Treaty of Lourdes in 1918. The second stage was brought about in 1917 '''shortly before the official surrender of the Central Powers. A successful Communist-led uprising in Moscow deposed the Imperial regime of the Russian Empire and instituted a Soviet-based socialist system based heavily on the ideas of Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky of the Bolshevik faction of the Communist Party. The revolution sparked a number of other smaller revolutions throughout Europe and the rest of the world, not all of which were successful. This stage ended with the reclaiming of newly Communist Germany at the hands of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party. The third stage brought a massive struggle of the united communist tide against the forces of fascism in Europe, both looking to extinguish the other. The fourth stage extended this struggle to the rest of the globe. When the Continent was united under Nazism with the fall of Britain in '''1945, an armistice between the forces of the Soviet Front and the Third Reich was called, bringing an official end to the twenty eight year long war. Stage One: Imperialism (1914-1917) The Theatre of War The politics of early 20th century Europe etertained a number of notions that are today, in 2170, utterly foreign. The first and foremost of which is imperialism; the nations of Germany, Italy, Austria-Hungary, Serbia, Prussia, Russia, and others thought themselves empires, and pursued policies both domestic and foreign to expand their percieved imperial power. Additionally, each one of these nations had caught themselves up in a tangled system of alliances that would irrevocably cause a global war should the tiniest spark catch fire in Europe. The spark would undoubtedly rage. A number of political ideologies had been manifesting in the years leading up to 1914. A growing nationalist movement was present in Europe, which held that peoples which held similar background, language, religion, and culture should have the right to self-determination in that people's ancestral lands; Italy to the Italians and France to the French, as it is said. Communism, and it's counterpart socialism, had been fermenting for several decades and was widely influenced by the works of Karl Marx and Freidreich Engels. The communist movement was wholly opposed to both the imperialism and the nationalism of Europe and many warned that such entangled alliances would be the doom of Europe. Assassination of Franz Ferdinand (1914) The assasination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Serbia at the hands of the anarchist group the Black Hand sparked the initial hostilities: on June 28th, both he and his wife were shot dead in Sarajevo. On a wider geopolitical scale, the alliance systems generated by Imperial-age Europe truly caused the war, as such an act should normally be relatively insignificant on the global political stage. Regardless, the nations of Europe divvyed themselves up into Central and Allied powers. The Imperial nations of Europe - Germany, Austria-Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy, and the Ottoman Empire - united themselves into a front against the Allies - Britain, France, Serbia, and Russia - which championed democracy, moderate socialism, and the causes of self-determination. Initial Hostilities Throughout the remainder of 1914 and into 1915, the Central Powers waged a brutal total war against the Allies, many decades of unexpressed politics and barely contained political rage now being brought front and center. Controversially, the Central Powers employed widespread use of chemical and biological warfare. In response, the Allies invested largely in heavy ordinance. Trench Warfare Stalemate As a result of the militant horrors unleashed by both sides, the war quickly devolved into trench warfare. Throughout the combat seasons of 1915 to 1917, no ground was gained by either side; casualties of one thousand troops per day became average, however. Radical and revolutionary individuals on all sides quickly began to condemn the war as senseless and imperialist, citing the massive casualties without gain as primary evidence of pointing the finger of blame towards all the ruling powers on both sides. The most notable of these individuals is Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky of the Communist Party operating in Russia and throughout continential Europe. The party was divided between the Bolshevik and Menshevik lines, which held to radical revolutionary communism and democratic transitionary socialism, respectively. Since being ousted from Imperial Russia, who found itself on the side of the Allies only out of conveinence, Lenin had been operating out of neutral Switzerland. Stage Two: Revolution! (1917-1933) October Revolution In November of 1917, the Bolshevik faction of the Communist Party operating in Russia, supported by comrades throughout continental Europe, siezed power in Moscow. They formed a provisional government and ousted the last vestiges of the Tsarist totalitarian government, as well as the external signs of formerly attempted Menshevik "democratic" reforms, such as the Duma. The Revolution was the first major turning point of the war, as when word of the Revolution reached the rest of continental Europe, it caused a near-immediate end to hostilities between the Entente and the Central powers. Border changes that occured during the war stayed as they were, and the entire continent gained an uneasy cease-fire. Interim Year The uneasy peace sat upon the continent for almost a year, lasting from''' November 1917 to November 1918'. This gave all sides an opportunity to rebuild, and some referred to it as a "cold war of ideas rather than a hot war of bullets and shells", a term that would return to haunt the globe. While no armistice or peace accord was reached, there were very few open hostilities during this time, as the forces of each side waited for orders on both sides. In newly-crowned Soviet Russia, the Bolsheviks spent the period consolidating their power, quickly crushing the remaining monarchists, Tsarist supporters, and capitalists. Anarchists made an appearance in Russia in the form of Nestor Makhno, who formed the Free Territory of Ukraine and helped to fund anarchist movements all over war-torn Europe. While the Entente and Central Power nations discussed intervention in Russia on the side of a restored monarchy, neither side wished to risk continued protracted warfare. European Uprising Taking advantage of the ceased hostilities, Lenin and Trotsky, the ideological leaders of the October Revolution, called upon their comrades throughout Europe to rise with them, promising solidarity, support, and the "Peace, Land, and Bread!" of Russia. The response to the Bolshevik call results in a protracted European civil war, the proletarian anarchists, communists, and socialists rising up against their governments. Lenin and Trotsky both openly condemned the senseless violence of the war, an conflict they referrred to as the "Imperialist War". They blamed western imperialism, capitalism, and the monetarist system. In solidarity with pan-European comrades, the Red Army extended from Moscow to the pan-European comrades which took the form of self-styled partisan organizations. In the states of Germany, Romania, and Austria-Hungary, more than 70% of their collective military might took up the communist call, dissatisfied with domestic destruction, continuing economic downturn, and the lack of compensation they recieved for their services. In truth, many of these military defectors changed their alliance as a matter of pragmatism rather than ideology. They decided to join their families in the change in power, as they felt more of a loyality to their respective peoples rather than an Imperialist crown. Nationalism had, ironically, turned in communism's favor. The nations of both the Central Powers were cast into civil war. Because of the semi-democratic moderation of the Entente powers, they experienced a growing but peaceful call to socialism. Soviet Republic of Germany ''Main Page: Soviet Republic of Germany In November of 1918, communists partisans of the self-proclaimed German Red Army gathered in Berlin and stormed the capital, beginning a two year civil war. This uprising would come to be known as the November Revolution in Germany, a conscious mirror of Russia's October Revolution, and it resulted in the deposition and execution of the Imperial German government. The partisans raised the German hammer and sickle over the capital, and partisan leaders officially proclaimed the SRG on November 7th, 1918. The Imperial armies were deployed on the front lines against the Entente, and thus were nearly powerless to stop the sweeping communist revolution. The revolution became popular with the people as the communists freely distributed arms and food to the masses which previously had little under the Imperial regimes. The SRG Red Army quickly spread throughout the nation, arming factory workers to join them in rising up against management. This strategy proved to be very successful, as the SRG experienced a manufacturing upswing for the first time since the war's beginning, though critics are quick to point out much of this is due to the increased morale and patriotism of the communist workers. The Red Army would continue to encounter resistance in factions of pro-Imperial German military who refused to surrender even in absence of government. The leaders of these factions controlled separate but communicating areas of Germany ruled under essential military dictatorship. By 1920, the Communists had consolidated power, though two other parallel governments existed which claimed authority. German war hero Paul von Hindenburg had returned to Germany and had helped to set up the moderate, constitution-based and loosely socialist Weimar government which cooperated with the communist regime. Soviet Republic of Austria-Hungary In early December of 1918, a similar uprising took place in Austria-Hungary. With the majority of domestic Austro-Hungarian military still in the front line trenches, revolutionary agitators began seizing power among factory workers, who promptly overthrew administration. When news of worker uprisings reached the farms, previously poor and unlanded peasants took the opportunity to organize themselves. Land was seized by the communists and distributed to peasants in collective farms, just as the factories were collectivized under worker councils. The Austro-Hungarian December Revolution was one of the more peaceful transitions of power. Initial revolutionary combat only lasted a few days, as the hammer and sickle was raised over the capital building. Just a few weeks later, the newly established SRAH entered full communion with Moscow. Lenin hailed the continuing revolution as evidence of the inevitable communisation of Europe, and by large, the world. Soviet Republic of Romania In Romania, a technical revolt in January 1919 '''led to the establishment of the SRR. This was, however, met with a swift and brutal response from the still-loosely-confederate Central Powers. With much of their military might joining the Proletarian revolution, the remaining Imperialist forces committed to a war in Romania in an attempt to crush the revolution. Red Guard troops contributed from the SRAH and from Soviet Russia quickly poured in to the Romanian and surrounding nations, and for three months, brutal and bloody civil war ensued. More than one hundred thousand Romanian citizens were killed in the uprising. The hostilities in Romania eventually came to a close when Russian naval forces landed on the eastern coast via the Black Sea, pushing the Central Powers into a full retreat towards the Italian lines. Many of the retreating Imperial military chose to defect during the push towards the Italian-Soviet Romanian border. With the Allies in peace accords with Moscow, by '''March of 1919, it is estimated that only 29% of the Central Power fighting force initially committed at the war's inception remained under effective Imperial control. Losses are due to causalities, prisoners of war, troops missing in action, or defections to the revolutionary cause. Treaty of Lourdes Main Article: Treaty of Lourdes In July 1919, in response to the Russian Revolution, the remnants of the Entente and Central Power governments signed an armistice and peace treaty called the Treaty of Lourdes. Peace was acceded to the Entente powers, though Serbia had been entirely swept up in the communists uprisings, and the Treaty brought all remaining Imperial powers into a single unified front known as the Blue Movement to combat the rising tide of socialism, anarchism, and communism brought on by the Bolsheviks in Moscow. An open statement at the end of the treaty vowed to discuss matters of war reparations for the events of the so-called "Great War" once the "legitimate governments of Europe" were restored. The governments of Britain and France declared neutrality in the continuing communist-imperialist conflict, however. Red vs Blue The forces of the Blue Movement had little initial hope for a victory, yet they refused to accede Europe to socialism. Italy remained a stronghold of Imperialist support, and so acted as the staging ground for Blue assaults. They urged the United States to intervene; however, the US was experiencing a sort of revolution of it's own in the form of a combination of Aldous Huxley's psychedelic movement and a growing technocracy movement, which led to widespread condemnation of war. The Blues managed to continue a brutal policy of trench warfare largely dependent on the continued use of chemical and biological weapons in Austria-Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria. Switzerland remained quite neutral, but Belgium and Holland became hotbeds of resistance to communism on the side of the Blues, in an attempt to preserve their fantastic old-world wealth. By 1921, the world accepted continuing war as a reality of life. Additionally, the global financial market had collapsed as a result of over speculation, stock market currency scares, and of course, the war in Europe. Very little ground was gained, and indeed, by 1925, the casualties will have dropped to only several thousand a year. The conflict boiled down to the Reds and the Blues lobbing munitions and ordnance at each other en masse with little gained or lost. Rise of Fascism Italy was experiencing widespread domestic unrest in the form of an underground anarchist movement which condemned the violence of the war and resorted to terror-like tactics to combat the Blues. Historical analysis has linked this group to Nestor Makhno. Communist and socialist parties formed in Italy, several of which had widespread popular sentiment, but the people were equally as divided towards Italian nationalism and loyalty to the new Blue movement. It seemed that there would be no unity for the Italian people. Additionally, the economy of Italy was in utter shambles. It was devestated by war time arms production, and when the global financial market collapse of 1921 '''occured, Italy was the European nation to perhaps be hit hardest. The Blues became unpopular rather quickly as Italians starved yet the Imperialists pressed for more arms. In '''1922, the people responded to the tide of communism with Benito Mussolini. Mussolini and his ultra-totalitarian Fascists seized power in Rome. Mussolini confronted the King of Italy and threatened civil war and revolt unless power were handed over; the weak and ailing King acceded power and the Imperial government of Italy disappeared. Thus, the Fascists were free to form their own government. Mussolini became absolute dictator who enforced power through the use of his Blackshirts, and within days, he had organized all of Italy under the all-powerful Fascist state. The Blue Movement immediately prefer Mussolini and his authoritarian tactics to the relative soft-handedness of the Italian King. Thus, they drew a strong alliance against the communist tide. State of Europe Europe was now divided along communist and authoritarian lines. It had become a war not of nationalism and crown, but of people versus their governments, and the political question of the era increasingly became "What side are you on?", figuratively. Lenin widely consumed himself with the domestic issues of managing the burgeoning Soviet movement, which had brought about a semi-effective unity of the independent Soviet Republics of Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Romania, respectively. Trotsky had become communism's foreign diplomat, and he enjoyed good relations with France and Britain as well as the United States. Stage Three: Repatriation (1923-1930) Rise of Nazism In the years leading up to 1923, another solution to Europe's continuing economic and social woes had been brewing as an alternative to revolutionary socialism: Nazism. Initially a small fringe party, the Nazis found their figurehead in the personage of Adolf Hitler. Hitler had served in the initial warfare of the First Great War, and felt deeply betrayed by the Imperial German government, whom he felt had "stabbed the German people in the back". Hitler served as a messenger and a front line soldier for Germany and was badly injured by shrapnel and nerve gas. Fighting for his life, Hitler was thrust into a coma. It seemed that German victory would be inevitable, yet when he awoke, a communist tide had seemingly suddenly appeared throughout Europe and the Imperial military was in shambles. In 1919, Hitler had joined the German Worker's Party and had helped to unite it with Ernst Rohm's Freikorps, who were Imperial German soldiers that refused to continue to fight for the ailing crown of Germany, but were decidedly and fiercely anti-communist. By 1920, the GWP had dissolved into the Nationalsozialistiche Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, abbreviated as the Nazis, and openly condemned the communist government. The Freikorps were reorganized into the Stabswache, or SA, and participated in street brawls with the communists. Nazism's "stab in the back legend" became very popular with the German people, and the Nazis were able to form an image of pan-German identity, the supremacy of the Aryan nation, and blamed the problems of Germany on a communist-Jewish conspiracy. Primary evidence of this conspiracy is the fact that Jews were relatively untouched by the horrible economic conditions of Germany at the time. Additionally, Leon Trotsky was a devout Jew, and he was widely demonized by the Nazis. Beer Hall Revolution In 1923, the NSDAP (Nazi Party) of Germany met in secret with the socialist Weimar shadow government of Germany and managed to convince President Hindenberg, a devout anti-communist who collaborated with the German communists only out of preservation for his nation, that Nazism was what Germany needed. With the support of the Weimar behind them, Hitler and his Nazis performed a violent coup of the German government. Leading German communists were meeting in a beer hall in Munich, and the Nazis took the opportunity to surround it and set up a defense perimeter. SA officers called the people to action and began distributing arms to known anti-communists; very quickly, Germany was thrust into yet another short civil war and street fighting continued for several days. By the third day, however, Hitler had successfully defeated the communists, executed many of their leaders, and had assumed effective power in Germany. Effective communication and access to arms contributed much to the Nazi success. Many of the communists of Germany had retreated deep into eastern Austria-Hungary, where they were recieved by their comrades. President Hindenberg pressed for democracy, but Hitler managed to keep the German Weimar Congress convinced that only immediate action could fix the woes of Germany. Thus, the constitution of the Weimar government was largely ignored, and Hitler set up the office of Chancellor, to which all executive power was acceded by Congress. Hindenberg became ineffective and relatively superfluous. Collapse of the Blue Movement The Blue Movement had all but rendered itself irrelevant. The Imperial regimes were all but destroyed or in exile, far from the European theatre, and the people of their respective nations had long since given sway to either the growing communist or fascist tides. The remaining Imperial military forces remained under the strict command of their military officers. The remnants of the Blues continued to flee West, where they encountered their new, effective homes: The Imperial remnant of Germany joined with the new Nazi regime, while the Imperial remnants of Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria were welcomed by Mussolini's fascists. With their allies utterly capitulated, the Ottoman Empire had died to internal strife and had ceded into a variety of Middle Eastern Islamic republics who told all sides they were to stay out of the conflict. Changes in Power Hitler very quickly came into communion with Mussolini, and they enjoyed a strong alliance. They began international trade and formed a united front against communism, their mutually hated enemy. In 1926, a series of uprisings occured in France in response to domestic economic conditions. Communists managed to set up an interim government, which was slow to come into communion with Moscow, but there was a significantly strong republican movement in France that refused to accede the nation to communism or socialism. With the Blue movement dissolved, an uneasy peace set upon Europe. The Soviets supported their various holdings in the East and worked furiously to build up their economies, which was working thus far. Mussolini and Hitler through the sheer force of their personalities and the immense power they wielded turned their nations into war machines. It was clear that the fascists were preparing for war. War - again In the political turmoil of France, Hitler saw opportunity. With promises of economic stability, he gained the support of various anti-communist republican factions in Germany. Nazi forces rolled through Belgium and into France and met with the internal republican agitators. In 1929, the Soviet Union was formed. Delegates from the communist movements of Europe met in Moscow, and the Soviet Union was formed out of the Republics of Russia, Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, and Ukraine. By 1930, Lenin had passed away due to illness and thus Trotsky assumed full command of the USSR. He was very popular with the communists for his hellish denouncing of both Mussolini and Hitler; indeed, Trotsky had a personal vendetta against Nazism, being that he was indeed a devout Jew. Additionally, the development of the airplane changed the course of the war as each faction scrambled to develop an airforce. Stage Four: Global War (1930-1945) Global Decision The earth's nation had successfully divided themselves along popular lines. Interest in the European conflict rose to a global level, as factions of communist support popped up all over the globe. The rising communist factions of the globe came into quick communion with Moscow. A growing fear of fascist expansion led the democratic nations of the globe to align themselves with the USSR, though much of the globe refused to give any official support one way or another to either side. The various remaining authoritarian powers of the globe aligned themselves with Hitler and Mussolini's agenda. Most notably of these powers is Imperial Japan under the rule of Emperor Hirohito. Hirohito had undertaken an expansion campaign in southeast Asia on China's southern border and brokered a loose alliance with Mussolini and Hitler. Allies and Japanese Expansion 1931 '''proved to be a problematic year. Hitler had occupied the entirety of Belgium and had plunged deep into France. Trotsky met with his British allies, and together, they determined that the course of the fascists was total domination of Europe, something which neither the communists nor the British would allow. In '''February of 1931, Britain and the USSR declared war on Nazi Germany and landed on the northern and western beaches of France with Soviet troops. In quick response, various nations of Europe responded to the declarations of war. Unwilling to be subjugated under fascist rule, the Alliance was created: with Britain, British India, Australia, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Turkey, Greece, Albania, and Bosnia declared war on the Nazis. The United States, Canada, and Mexico expressed ideological support for the Allied cause, but refused to take part. Interested in a divide-and-conquer strategy, Hitler convinced Hirohito to invade the USSR with the understanding that war spoils would be equally split between the Germans and Japanese. Thus, in March of 1931, Japanese forces landed in Manchuria and quickly occupied hundreds of square miles of Chinese territory. China itself was embroiled in a civil war between it's nationalist and communist factions, the latter of which was quite supported by Soviet interests. True to form, the Soviets were forced to attend to two fronts, and declared war on the Imperial Japanese. Nearly simultaneous with the Japanese invasion, Nazi forces directed themselves in a bombardment campaign on the eastern front throughout the Austria-Hungarian border. They were supported largely by the Italian fascists who chose to focus on conquest of the Balkans. The bulk of the Nazi force was concentrated in conquering France, knowing that the Soviets would be too distracted by the Japanese to offer a full offense. A Hopeless War? In 1933, Austria-Hungary rebelled against Soviet rule. Nazi propoganda had taken hold and gripped the people's imaginations with images of German pan-nationalism and Aryan identity. Additionally, the people were upset with living in a warzone for decades and thought the Nazis the ultimate victors of the war in Europe; the popular choice was as much pragmatic as it was idealistic. In response, Nazi forces rolled through the region into some of the deepest fighting of the war yet. While Soviet troops mounted an effective resistance, Trotsky well knew that it could not be held with popular opinion turned against them. Early 1934 '''brought the collapse of communist Romania to Italian forces. The Soviets, by and large, had chosen to abandon the region in an effort to concentrate their war material on mounting an effective defense deeper into western Europe. Much of their force had been sent across the continent to stand with the communist Chinese, though the Japanese had successfully gained hundreds of square miles of land into the USSR itself. Trotsky was in somewhat of a panic. Soviet troops from Austria-Hungary were rerouted through Scandinavia onto the northern beaches of France, where they found a war-torn and battered British force. By '''1935, resistance in France had collapsed. The Nazis had fought the British back to the northern beaches of France, where they largely abandoned their war material and fled back to Britain. The eastern line had reached a temporary stall, with fascist forces consolidating it's recent gains in Romania and Austria-Hungary In 1936, civil war broke out in Spain. Funded by Hitler's war machine, fascist General Franco plunged the nation into chaos and was well-resisted by an anarcho-syndicalist movement throughout the Spanish countryside. War solidified on the Eastern front as Soviet troops from France entered Spain to support the communist resistance while the British contemplated their next moves. Trotsky decided that the best defence was a good offence. Thus, Poland became the primary battleground with Soviet, Finnish, Norweigan, and Swedish troops fighting tooth and nail in a move towards Berlin. The British landed a force in Greece and unified an allied push into Romania. Fighting would continue in similar fashion with land traded back and forth for the next several years, with little gains on either side. Power Shifts 1940 '''proved to be a turning point in the war, with powerful personalities and shifts in power. Late in the previous year, Spain and Portugal had fallen entirely to Franco, who entered into communion with the fascists. Soviet troops fled Spain for France, cut off entirely from Moscow, where they fell under the leadership of French Communist Resistance leader Charles du Gaulle. Nestor Makhno and his anarchists decided to strike Italy with the blessing of Moscow. He enjoyed the command of underground Italian anarchists, who bombed a series of fascist supply lines. With the support of a defective faction of the fascist navy, Makhno's forces invaded Rome with Soviet aerial support. Striking Rome itself, the anarchist forces were able to locate and execute Mussolini and occupy Rome. Soviet forces prepared to move into Italy. Hitler, in the absence of Mussolini, poured Nazi forces no longer engaged in France into Italy. As news of Mussolini's death spread, the choice of the fascist's loyalty was clear: Hitler. Rome was quickly retaken and the Reich swastika raised over it's government buildings. Makhno himself was executed and the anarchists driven underground. Soviet forces managed to regain Romania in the ensuing political chaos and met with the British-led allies from Greece. There, they pushed on a strong offensive against Italy. However, more and more of the Soviet force was required to keep the Japanese at bay. How long the Chinese communists could last was utterly unknown to Trotsky. By the '''end of 1940, a clear line of battle had been drawn in Eastern Europe. Nazi forces had partially plunged into Poland, while the collected Soviets and Allies pushed straight west. Britain found itself shipping it's troops through Scandinavia into the eastern front in friendly Soviet territory. Nazi Europe With a single battlefront to attend to, Hitler turned his attention towards solidifying power in western Europe. Franco had grown increasingly distant, his alliance with the Nazis merely a matter of pragmatism rather than ideology; he was more interested in seeing to the fascist rule of his own nation. Hitler managed to paint Franco as a self-aggrandizing power player. Nazi ideology had grown to supercede German nationalism, with the concept of Aryan including anyone who would subjugate themselves to Nazi rule; Jew-communism, of course, was still the enemy. Thus, Spain found themselves attracted to the Nazis whom they saw as their liberators.The anarcho-syndicalist loyalists had by and large already been executed by Franco. Thus, the fascists rose up and revolted against Franco, and Hitler was able to succesfully restructure and Nazify Spain by the end of the year. In 1941, Hitler once more divided his armies, having the full strength of most of the continent to fuel his warmachine, and launched a full campaign against Britain. British troops from the eastern front scrambled to their country's defense as the Soviets took full command of the eastern front, slowly losing ground to advancing Nazi forces. Pleased with their success in the USSR and China, and certain of an Imperial / Fascist victory, the Japanese decided to expand their campaign to a more global level. In December 1941, the Japanese attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, destroying a significant portion of the American navy. The US contacted Moscow, who were happy to hear from a potential ally in the desparate war. Soon after the attack, the United States declared war on both the Japanese and the Nazis. American forces landed in the USSR and China to fight the onslaught of Japanese forces, while the Soviets thrust the majority of their military back towards Europe to halt the slowly advancing Nazi tide. American Liberation By 1942, American forces had liberated several Pacific islands, and portions of China taken by the Japanese. Soviet and Chinese communists fought alongside Americans. India undertook an active campaign on it's Eastern border against the encroaching Japanese forces, and New Zealand joined Australia in a push to capture New Guinea. The Soviets had taken a harsh beating, and casualties ran high. They struggled to hold their eastern front, and finally, by the end of 1942, the Soviets found themselves in a full retreat towards Moscow. Nazi forces continued their campaign against Britain, a fullscale invasion stopped only by British anti-aircraft guns. The Scandinavian military had faltered in the Polish campaign, and now large swathes of the peninsula lie in Nazi hands. 1943 '''brought little news. The Americans continued their campaign in liberating the occupied USSR and China, casualties running high. The Nazis had near-full control of Scandinavia by the end of the year; the Soviets had liberated as much as was possible with the alliance of retreating Swedish and Norweigan soldiers. Switzerland, utterly surrounded by the Third Reich and unable to either import or export, acceded to Nazi rule. In '''1944, the war was looking hopeful for the Pacific front. American and Chinese forces made constant gains on Imperial territory. The Soviets had finally ground the Nazis to a standstill, and much of the major fighting had died down in eastern Europe. An Experimental Weapon Come September 1944, Britain fell to the Nazis and London was sacked. The war looked entirely hopeless for an allied victory. There was, however, a relatively secret project in the works. To escape Nazism, the German scientist Albert Einstein had defected to the Soviet Union. There, he headed the Leningrad Project with fellow German Klaus Fuchs. An experimental weapon was being developed. By February 1945, Albert Einstein's atom bomb from the Leningrad Project was fully developed. After informing the Americans, the Soviets dropped several of the experimental weapons on the major cities of Tokyo, Nagasaki, and Kyoto, decimating the Imperial war effort. Out of fear of nuclear retaliation, the Nazi war machine halted their advance. Soviet, Chinese and American troops poured in to Japan, Manchuria, and Siam, effectively ending the war. The decades long struggle was finally over. Aftermath Abu Dhabi Conference Leon Trotsky, Adolf Hitler, Emperor Hirohito, and President Walter Rautenstrauch met February 17th, 1945 in the Arabian city of Abu Dhabi. They were accompanied by a retinue of advisors, as well as officials from Australia, New Zealand, British India, and the communist movement of China as well as from various communist movements around the globe. The pressing issue was a peace accord, as well as the repatriation of occupied land. As it stood, Hitler controlled the majority of the European continent. Scandinavia had been all but liberated by the Soviets, though American troops stood on their own soil. Europe Within the first week of negotiation, Hitler and Trotsky had brokered a peace agreement in writing: the USSR recognized the Nazi domination of the European continent, and in turn the Third Reich recognized the territory that the Soviets currently occupied. The border extended between Germany and Soviet Poland, down to a division of Czechoslovakia, and around Romania all the way to the Black Sea. Japan None of the blame for the latter part of the war could actively be placed upon the Nazis; thus, the defeated Imperial Japanese became the scapegoat. The Americans, the Chinese, the USSR, and Australia all laid claims upon the Imperial regime, upon whom total blame was placed for the Pacific theatre. The United States demanded recompense for the expenses accrued during the war; thus, it was determined that 20% of the total economic output of the Japanese mainland would go to the United States until the amount was repaid in full. Overseeing this repayment is the USSR, whose claims of occupation were fully recognized by the Americans, Chinese, and Australians. The Australians insisted upon the possession of the Pacific islands that they liberated, as well as overseeing the development of the regions of the Japanese' former occupation. The USSR organized the principality of Oceania and it was placed under the provisional government of Australia. Emperor Hirohito was brought to the United States to be tried for war crimes, where he was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. Additionally, the entire former Imperial government was disbanded, though the question of a possible trial remained. China The Chinese, led by Mao Zedong, forcefully held particular interest in the notion of a free, independent, and communist China. For Mao Zedong, the victory laurels of the success of the Pacific theatre lie solely with the Chinese. Mao Zedong petitioned Leon Trotsky for recognition of a communist China. With the potential for a strong communist alliance in the world, Trotsky agreed under the condition that the USSR be granted occupation of Korea and part of the Manchurian province. Mao agreed, and thus Trotsky formally proposed the motion on March 1st, 1945. The claim was recognized by the USSR, the United States, the Japanese, India and Australia, and so on March 13th, 1945, the People's Republic of China was organized under the leadership of the Communist Party of China and Chairman Mao. As the first act of the People's Republic, Chairman Mao brought the rest of the former Imperial government to Beijing, where they were tried for war crimes, found guilty, and executed within a week. The United States The United States was more interested in a technocratic restructuring of their own nation than taking place in the affairs of the world. The war had jumpstarted the American economy that was previously in ruin, and the new economic success made the technocratic President and Congress wildly popular with the people. The United States retained a presence in a few Pacific islands out of economic interest, but for the most part, began evacuation of their troops back to the mainland. Additionally, they recognized the claims of Soviet sovereignty and fully evacuated from the Kamchatkan Peninsula, liberated from the Japanese. Africa A strong communis movement had arisen in central Africa; with material support from the Soviet Union, it had fought the fascists in Africa. The USSR recognized the movement's claims to sovereignty, and the Central African Republic was organized on April 2nd, 1945. India India and the new People's Republic brokered an alliance. In return for material support to help rebuild the nation after the war and also as a recognition of their campaign against the Japanese, the Indians gave a portion of it's liberated territory to the People's Republic. Alliance of Arab Nations The former holdings of the Ottoman Empire had fractured into a variety of Arab nations. They appeared at the conference and formally organized themselves into the Alliance of Arab Nations. Global Communism Communist movements in South and Central America petitioned the Soviet Union for recognition, and on May 7th, 1945, the Republic of Nicaragua and the Republic of Bolivia were organized. Impact Economic Restructuring The First Great War had destroyed the global economy. The economy of every nation of Europe was utterly war-machine based, and the decades-long hostilities led to a progressive decline in the worth of global currencies. Cold War Communication between the USSR and the Nazis ceased, beginning the Cold War. Category:2170 AD